


Tender is the Heart

by CaptainZ



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Sandor is a possessive angry hound dog, This is crack, eventual very happy ending, this is au, this is awesome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-24 22:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4937194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainZ/pseuds/CaptainZ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU: Sansa has escaped the Red Keep with the help of unlikely friends, tries to return to her family, and is  found by a man who loves her more than his own life. Join her as she discovers how the honor and duty of her houses define her as a person.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape

Sansa Stark was their prized possession. Now she was an escaped possession as she raced along the forest road in one of the worst rain storms in history. She had done it! She had escaped the Lannisters once and for all and all thanks to Tyrion Lannister of all people.

 

Tyrion had developed a soft spot for her apparently and had arranged for Bronn, Oberyn Martell, and Podrick Payne to help her escape in the confusion of a riot he instigated.

 

Robb and Uncle Edmure had married Freys and gained the support and fealty of the Twins. As far as Sansa knew, her family waited for her at Riverrun as the Royal Family of the North, making her a princess of sorts. She couldn’t wait to just hold any one of them again. 

 

She was barely keeping up with the three men protecting her. She had to spur her horse faster if Sansa had any hope of escaping the group of men on their heels.

 

Tyrion had commanded Bronn and Podrick to take her to Riverrun after the Battle of the Blackwater when Stannis was defeated and Sandor fled without her. For some reason, Sansa was more melancholy than she thought she would be when the Hound left her to the lions. They had a tense relationship, but she enjoyed the protectiveness he had for her occasionally. It had been years since she had seen him though. 

 

The Battle of the Blackwater left Sansa without a fiance when the king set her aside for the Tyrells (which she was thankful for) and without her shadow, the Hound. When she was set aside, many suitors went after her, including the Tyrells, Littlefinger, and even Oberyn Martell.

 

The Lannisters, eager to keep their docile pet wolf, scrambled to find a suitor for her within their own ranks and settled upon Tyrion. Tyrion bought them enough time with his father, postponing the wedding to after Joffrey’s wedding.

 

Joffrey’s demise via poisoning was found out to be by Tyrion, supposedly, and he was held for a trial which turned into one by combat in which the Mountain and the Red Viper squared off. It was the most exciting battle Sansa had ever seen. The Red Viper was victorious in the end, getting a confession out of the Mountain and killing him without getting hurt. 

 

Tyrion finally set his plan in motion after he was freed. The riot would start as he and Sansa made their way to get married at the Great Sept of Baelor and Sansa would get ‘kidnapped’ by Bronn and Oberyn in disguise. Oberyn had claimed to have left the ‘stinking shithole’ that was King’s Landing, but stayed behind to ‘save a princess in place of the princess he could not save’.

 

They had made it to the edge of the river lands before they were discovered and now Sansa and her brave men were being pursued. 

 

“Sansa! We have to split up! Go with Oberyn! Now!,” Bronn yelled back at her. Sansa quickly steered her horse to follow Oberyn’s and prayed that she could stay on her horse. Her breeches helped, but she was not the horsewoman her aunt and sister were reputed to be.

 

Suddenly, she was pitched off her horse by a man tackling her to the ground. She hit hard and was crushed by the man’s weight.

 

He recovered more quickly and turned her over to face him as he pinned her to the ground and held a dagger to her throat. The raindrops fell into her eyes and nose, but Sansa could still smell the man’s rancid breath. “There you are, my pretty little wolf bitch! I was wondering when we would catch up to you!”

 

“Get off me!”

 

“No, I’m going to enjoy watching you die at the hands of the queen in King’s Landing. We’ve got a long journey back together.” the man smiled with missing teeth and scarred lips.

 

“Get off her, you Lannister son of a whore,” a voice hissed through the rain and wind. Sansa finally noticed the cold as a shiver ran through her at hearing Oberyn approaching.

 

Suddenly, the man was off her and drawing a sword to go after Oberyn. “Run, Sansa! Find shelter!”

 

Sansa didn’t want to leave the handsome Dornish prince, but the look in his eyes was grave and earnest. She ran along the stream they had been following which was now swollen with the rain. She made it to just out of sight of Oberyn and the toothless man’s fighting when she was knocked down again by a larger body.

 

This man was much larger than the toothless man, but no less terrifying and scarred. “Hello, little princess... I wonder if you’ll be as hard to kill as your family. You are heading to a graveyard. Riverrun is ours now... The North is without a King.You are lost.” This man was telling the truth. She saw it in his eyes. A trick she learned from the Hound.

 

“No! Get off me! Help! Help!” Sansa had to fight. She had to see Riverrun. She had to get to her family. They needed her. She would die there if she had to, but she needed to get to Riverrun. Her mother’s blood in her called her home to Riverrun just as much as her father’s blood called her back to Winterfell. 

 

“It’s no use, wolf bitch. I saw your brother’s dead body and I helped throw your mother’s remains into the river with your ancestors. Good riddance to those damned devil dogs.” The man spat with gusto. His eyes burned with truth that Sansa wasn’t going to easily accept.

 

“Shut up, you lying bastard!”

 

Sansa grabbed her nearest weapon, a rock and bashed the man in the head before she scrambled up to run as fast as she could. The man recovered quickly and pushed her into the stream. She hit the freezing water like a wall and she struggled to get to the shore. 

 

Her body began to tense up with the cold water as she crawled just enough to get out of the water and onto the steep bank of the stream. Just as she was losing consciousness,a large shadow loomed over her and stroked the hair out of her face.

 

“I’ve got you, my broken little bird. Shhhh...”

 

Sansa’s darkness enveloped her like the shadow above her.

 


	2. Fever

Sansa slowly and groggily awoke from her unconsciousness and found herself in a soft four-poster bed with dark velvet hangings. Three sides had been closed to keep the heat near her bed and the fourth side was open to collect warmth from a nearby fireplace.

 

Sansa first felt the large, supple fur robe that engulfed her form, which she discovered was otherwise naked. She was also buried under a pile of blankets and surrounded by pillows to create a nest of sorts for her.

 

Sansa, still too weak to really be concerned by her surroundings, looked to the fireplace as it was the only source of light in the room. A giant wing-back chair stood near the fireplace but faced away from the bed so that Sansa could not see the occupant except for its black polished boots.

 

She moaned softly in her state of delirium, which roused the person in the chair. The figure stood and faced her. She whimpered at what she saw.

 

He was massive, easily one of the biggest men she had ever seen, with long black locks and piercing eyes. His facial features were made indistinguishable due to the darkness of the room and the shadow the fire cast on him, but he slowly approached her in the bed.

 

“Easy now, Little Bird, easy... I will not harm you, but you must rest. You must be strong to fight your fever,” the figure’s voice rumbled gently. He ran a cool, wet cloth over her face and stroked her hair.

 

She made a soft noise of complaint as he made to adjust the fur robe shielding him from her nakedness. “Hush, Little Bird, I’ll not ruffle your feathers, just wanted to make you comfortable. Your innocence is safe from me.... For now. When you feel better, we’ll discuss how you can repay me for my generosity in letting you use my bed. It will be something hopefully both of us will enjoy,” the figure chuckled darkly.

 

Sansa squirmed under the covers and the figure chuckled more at her protest. “Now, Little Bird, don’t wear yourself out. You will make yourself worse. You took a nasty spill when you escaped the soldiers after you and landing in the brook during that storm didn’t help you when I found you half dead. You were as cold as an icicle when I picked you up,” the figure informed. 

 

Sansa had stopped squirming out of exhaustion and simply looked up at him, waiting for him to either kill her or take her innocence. She had been at the Red Keep too long to believe there was anyone left in the world who would treat her with any shred of dignity.

 

“This nest I built you will keep you nice and warm until you break your fever. And if you like it enough, you can stay with me in your nest and I’ll help keep you warm for the rest of your days,” the figure ran his finger down the bridge of her nose, over her lips, and across her cheeks.

 

“Please... Please don’t...hurt me,” Sansa begged between breaths as her throat cracked with dryness. 

 

The figures eyes widened in surprise and he straightened in seriousness. “I will never hurt you, Little Bird, and I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt you. You’re mine now, lass, whether you will it or no.”

 

Sansa’s eyes watered with hopelessness at the feebleness of her body and the condition she had found herself in; first trapped in the Red Keep, then escaped only to be trapped once more.

 

“I’ve found you, Sansa Stark, and I intend to keep you. I know you are hunted and I know you have no family to claim and protect you,” he spoke gravely.

 

So it was true. Riverrun had been ransacked and now the Lannisters had permanently destroyed her family. She couldn’t help the despair that hit her like cold water and lightning. But there was something strange about this man...

 

“So it’s true? My family is gone?” Sansa had to hear it one last time to accept it.

 

“I’m afraid so, Little Bird. I saw the flames from here where they had ransacked it. I’m so sorry,” the figure muttered lowly.

 

She had no clue who he was, but he knew her better than anyone alive. With her family extinct, she now belonged to no one but ghosts and her fond memories of days long passed. Her exhaustion and emotions finally caught up with her in that moment.

 

Sansa began to sob in earnest and the figure scooped her up from her pillow nest and held her to his chest. Her face fit perfectly into the crook of his neck and he cradled her until she calmed enough to hiccup away her tears.

 

“Little love, I will keep you. I will protect you. I will cherish you,” he spoke softly and still her eyes leaked tears. “Don’t fret so, Little Bird. You will want for nothing. You will be safe for the rest of your days. You will be loved here, Sansa.”

 

It was all she could ever want; to be loved again purely for being herself. This man was offering the one thing in the world that she could ever want to possess: a safe loving home.

 

“Who are you, that you know me so well?”

 

“A man who has loved you from afar. A man who is so irrevocably under your spell that he would defy King, country and the gods to have you.”

 

Sansa didn’t understand how someone she didn’t know could be so affected by her. What power could she possibly have that could conjure such ardent affection out of a perfect stranger. “What could I have done to garner such devotion?”

 

“You have been yourself; kind, beautiful, brave, smart, and you were sweet to me when no one else was. I never forgot your gentle words and your smiles when I thought you had run out of them. I want no other after being near you.” 

 

The figure held her in silence while she searched for the identity of this man from her memory, but she only succeeded in making herself tired. Sansa curled up more into his arms and let out a yawn before propping her head against his shoulder and letting her eyes droop shut.

 

“Please, do not leave me alone. I’ve been alone for so long...”

 

“I will be at your side, Little Bird, as long as you want me,” the figure deposited her back into her pillow and blanket nest and passed a hand through her hair.

 

“Sleep, lass. You need it to recover and when you are ready, you will know me. For now, I will be right here. I won’t leave you,” the figure sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed circles over her hand to lull her to sleep.


	3. Fight

Sansa woke to the filtered sunlight of the room. She was warm and comfortable in her fur robe and blanket nest which withstood her nightly tossing and turning. Except there was something else about her this morning that was different.

 

There was something touching her around her waist. A large band of steel in the form of a man’s hairy arm had her snugly under her breast and relaxed puffs of air stirred the hairs on the top of her head.

 

Sansa slowly turned her head and looked up into the sleeping face of the Hound. Either way, she was scared stiff. This was the man who had scared her so badly at the Red Keep and now he was cuddled at her side like some innocent pup. She didn’t know if what he had said last night was some sort of act to get her to comply, but now she had no doubt he was keeping her for some sinister reason.

 

This morning she woke with enough strength to think of a way to escape. Her only options at this point were to wait until the Hound woke up in order to find his weaknesses or to make a run for it while he was still asleep. 

 

Sansa decided on the latter as he looked deep enough in his dreams that she could slip out without his notice. Slowly she wiggled out of his hold and placed her feet on the cold floor. It startled her, but didn’t wake up the Hound, fortunately. 

 

Sansa pushed herself off the bed and gracefully trotted to the door where she tried the doorknob. To her dismay it was locked.

 

“Trying to fly away, Little Bird? I had hoped you would want to stay and share your nest with me...” the Hound’s voice sounded annoyed. 

 

Sansa panicked and frantically pulled at the door, willing it to open.

 

The Hound emerged from the bed and quickly approached her. She ran to the opposite end of the room away from him and he merely followed. This chase had him aroused, especially with how beautifully flushed his Little Bird was getting in her exercise.

 

“Did you forget last night in your fevered state, Little Bird? Did you forget how I vowed to protect you and keep you for the rest of my life?” the Hound questioned as Sansa began to grow tired from her avoidance.

 

“You were lying to me! You work for the Lannisters. You are going to hand me back over to them!” Sansa cried.

 

All of a sudden, the Hound thundered over to her, grabbed her by the waist with one arm, lifting her into his chest. He pinned her arms to his chest and glared down at her. With the other hand, he fisted her hair into a silken rope and forced her to look up at him. With a yelp Sansa met his stony gaze with reluctance.

 

“A hound will die for you but never lie to you, Little Bird, and they’ll look you in the face,” the Hound hissed as his eyes bored into hers. “I spit on the Lannisters, their lies, and their cruelty. They treated us as scum and I would rather rot a thousand times over then to hand you over to them. They were my masters once, but you are my mistress now.”

 

Sansa could not believe the amount of loyalty and possessiveness she inspired in the Hound. Was he really going to help her? Or was she here as some sort of prize for being a loyal dog to the Lannisters? 

 

“Why do you want me? I cannot reward you outside of giving myself to you! The Lannisters took everything but my innocence which they were saving for auctioning off to one of their cronies. What could you possibly want with me?!” Sansa yelled.

 

The Hound looked down at her with sadness masked as contemplation. “I want you. I want your heart, your body, your soul, your trust. I want you to trust me in every way.Maybe one day you will trust me enough to show you how I can love your body. And as much as I want you, I want to give you all of myself. I am your slave, Sansa. I serve no one, but you. My only lot in life now is to protect you and see to your pleasure.”

 

Sansa trembled in his hold and allowed silent tears to fall from her eyes. She didn’t want to be his mistress and lord herself over him. She wanted to go home. To have her family again. To never have been in the clutches of the Lannisters at all. But that was all gone and now she belonged to the Hound.

 

In spite of him, she thrashed to be released, but that only made him hold her tighter.

 

“Calm, Little Bird, calm. You are too weak to fight me. You must rest, as it looks like you’ve bought yourself several more days of bed-rest in order to be rid of your illness.”

 

Her struggle began to weaken as the Hound held her and soon she was motionless and panting from her exertion. Her eyes were defiant and her demeanor cold, stiff, and apathetic. The Hound still had a grip in her hair and he used it to angle her head back to expose her throat to him.

 

“That’s it, Little Bird, just relax...I’ve got you. Let me take care of you. No more fighting. No more running. You are safe as you are. Just relax,” The Hound’s deep voice rumbled as he pressed his cheek to the pulse in her throat and felt her heart beat go down. With that intimate gesture, Sansa’s behavior shifted to weary and broken as she let out shaky breaths. He breathed in her scent to calm himself down and pressed a light kiss to the hinge of her jaw. 

 

Sansa startled, but didn’t thrash and quickly went back to her immobile state as he began to lightly blaze a trail down her throat to the hollow of her collarbone with small brushes of his lips. It felt good to be wanted and desired, but she couldn’t help the emotions he was evoking from her now. Fear, anger, confusion, and sadness mixed with lust, comfort, and hope.

 

Sansa whimpered, but grew lax and pliable in the Hound’s grip. Her light, but dead weight assured him that he had won this battle. He brought her back to the bed where he possessively situated her into the covers. 

 

“Hush now, you won’t be seeing any of the Lannisters ever again. I’ll kill any of them that so much as look at you” the Hound growled, “It is still early, but I must see to my household. You will stay here, rest, and I will return with some broth for you.”

 

“Does anyone else know I’m here?” Sansa inquired.

 

“No, Little Bird, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

 

With Sansa safely back in bed, the Hound left the room, locking the door behind him. Sansa stared up at the canopy of the bed and let her thoughts drift to how she was going to survive living in the same house as the Hound. 

 

Sansa didn’t know how big the Hound’s house was or whether she would get her own bedroom since this sparsely decorated one was his. Was she to be his concubine here or a guest to come and go if she didn’t fear getting caught by the Lannisters?

 

Just as she was getting her thoughts in order, the door opened and two maids entered with the Hound. He could see Sansa tense as the maids advanced on her. “Don’t worry, Little Bird, these maids are going to feed you and bathe you. They will keep your secret and see to your needs.”

 

Just when one maid set a tray of broth and fresh bread on the bed in front of Sansa, the other pulled up a tub and began heating pales of water in the fireplace. 

 

“I will leave you to your devices, Little Bird.”

 

Sansa was still worried about the maids and almost called the Hound back, but decided she didn’t want the Hound feeding and bathing her. The maids worked efficiently and in a couple hours, Sansa was in a new sleeping shift, clean, fed, and ready for a nap.

 

“Thank you,” Sansa said meekly as the maids slipped out of the room.

 

No sooner had they slipped out that the Hound slipped in and locked the door behind him. He had a smooth object in his large hand that looked like a wooden paddle and Sansa tensed for what was to come.

 

“I’ve instructed your maids to leave the brushing of your hair to me. I hope you will let me do it.” For the first time, the Hound looked bashful and nervous as if she would curse and reject him in one breath.

 

Sansa merely shook her hair out and turned on the bed so that he could reach her hair. With that encouragement, the Hound quickly came to the bed and sat behind her to take the brush to her hair. 

 

He started with gentle, measured strokes and let the thick strands run between his fingers as he went. After a while of the hypnotic feeling of having her hair brushed, Sansa’s eyes began to droop and her posture sagged. Eventually she fell back towards the Hound, who caught her and pulled her back into his lap. 

 

Sansa’s head rested on the Hound’s shoulder and he leaned back on the headboard of the bed and pulled the blankets up to cover her. “Sleep, Little Bird...You deserve it.”

 


	4. Pretty Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is a quick one to tide you over. We'll be hearing from some wolves after the next chapter... Hehehehehe.

“I can’t believe we lost her,” Podrick sighed mournfully. He, Bronn, and Oberyn were on a quest and they had failed. Podrick would never be a knight now and what’s worse was he had developed shy feelings for their charge. 

 

Sansa had been kind to him when Tyrion, Oberyn, and Bronn teased him and bullied him. Podrick couldn’t help falling in love with her soft looks and lady-like manners. And now she was gone with no chance of rescue.

 

“Lady Sansa’s not dead. I saw her crawl onto the shore of the stream before she was taken by the cloaked man. I couldn’t reach her in time, and for that I am sorry.” Oberyn clapped a reassuring hand on Podrick’s shoulder as they gathered around the campfire.

 

“We will find her, my young friend, but she won’t be going to Riverrun. Sansa’s family is dead and her ancestral homes are overrun with Lannisters and Lannister supporters. When we find her, we will take her to Dorne. There I will marry her and she can remain safe as the princess that she is. Ellaria has taken a shine to her and my girls will all love her.”

 

Podrick couldn’t help the angry, bitter flip of his stomach at the thought of Sansa marrying Oberyn and cavorting with his mistress who he had seen eyeing Sansa hungrily at Joffrey’s wedding feast. He swallowed his disappointment and jealousy because he knew Oberyn and Dorne would protect Sansa to the very end if she married Oberyn. Podrick was just a lowly squire with no title or kingdom to offer her or protect her with.

 

“I hope you know where to start looking for her. For all we know, she could be heading back to King’s Landing to be imprisoned again. And I hope you mean to pay me when we head to Dorne.” Bronn sat there unimpressed by the Dornish prince and his fancy words. He looked forward to getting paid and maybe for finding the pretty girl of their company.

 

Bronn loathed to say it, but Sansa was the one noble that he had become attached to. Tyrion was a good laugh and a good paycheck, but the Lady Sansa was sweet and gentle. He appreciated how much she had grown and he had wanted very badly to kill Meryn Trant for beating her. Bronn wouldn’t even charge a fee for that death. 

 

Oberyn sent him a withering look when suddenly Podrick stood and made a proclamation.

 

“I will follow you if it means we find Lady Sansa,” Podrick spoke to Oberyn. “I can’t live with the fact that I failed to protect her. I will make it my life’s mission to find and protect Lady Sansa to the best of my abilities.”

 

“Well done, my boy, you may be the most noble of us yet! We will find her, but first we must rest and gather information,” Oberyn began teaching Podrick to skin a rabbit and cook it over their roaring campfire.

 

“I guess I’ll come along too to make sure you pretty boys don’t get into trouble.” Bronn knew he wouldn’t hear the end of this from his little lord boss.

 


	5. Misunderstandings

Sansa awoke sometime that afternoon, alone in the bed and yet she felt a presence in the room that seemed to be watching her. She looked around to find the Hound at a desk near the bed attending to what looked like book keeping. 

“Good afternoon, Little Bird. You slept very well by the looks of it. I’ll have some food brought up for you soon.”

Sansa sat up shakily against the headboard, having not totally regained her strength. She turned her head to him and licked her chapped lips. “My Lord --? Hound--?”

“I have a name, Little Bird. Sandor Clegane happens to be my bloody name. I intend that you use it. Maybe someday soon you’ll scream it in pleasure.”

With that, Sansa’s stomach flipped and she blushed more than she had in her entire life, but remained quiet for a moment. “Sandor...I was wondering if you were going to give me a different room since this one is yours. I don’t want to intrude on your privacy...”

“No, you’ll not be getting your own room although there are plenty to be had in this old place. You’ll stay here with me where I can keep an eye on you and keep you warm at night. Plus, I’m rather fond of the look of you in my bed.” He looked over at her then with a smirk and an appraising gaze.

She tensed in both fear and annoyance. “Well, if you want my maidenhead so much, why don’t you just take it and be done with it, you big brute! This game you’re playing with me will kill me long before my illness will!”

With each word she said, she could see his temper rise and his jaw tick with tension. He quickly stood with enough force to knock the chair he was sitting in across the room with a large clatter.

The Hound stomped over to her and grasped her jaw in his hand. “Make no mistake, my love, I could take your damned innocence if I was my fucking brother, but I’m not. When I take your maidenhead, it will be because you give it to me willingly. Maybe you’ll even beg me for your release. But until then, I will woo you as I see fit.”

Sansa met his intense grey eyes and balked at his language and his intentions. “If I want to play games, you will play along. I don’t know why you fight me like a she-wolf at every turn, but I will tame you. It’s only a matter of time.”

He changed his grip on her face in order to bring her lips to his in a burning kiss. He had her bottom lip between his in a matter of seconds and he sucked and nibbled at it before she opened her mouth to gasp. He dove in with his tongue and swallowed the breath from her lungs. After a few moments, he had his fill of her lips and released her enough to look back into his eyes.

“And you will NOT die...I won’t let you. You will live the life you deserve with me because any other man who tries to have you will die the most painful death I can bestow upon them. You are mine. Never forget that, Little Bird.” Sandor released her then and marched over to retrieve the chair and get back to his record keeping.

“You better get used to the idea that I love you more than anything on this earth. More than my damned life, Little Bird. You are the most precious treasure in the world to me. Everything about you is.” Sandor wouldn’t look at her then. He picked a place on his upturned palms to stare at as he confessed this to her.

Sansa was in awe of his devotion and his passion. She brought her knees up to her chest and curled into herself under the covers. Any signs that he was this in love with her were lost to her when she was living at the Red Keep. He would only mock her and frighten her at the Red Keep until he disappeared the night of the fire. Even when he wanted to take her away, she had assumed it was out of hatred of the Lannisters and not love for her. All those times he saved her from Joffrey’s torment were also the times he would spare her looks of pity, not all-consuming passion.

Sansa didn’t know if he hid it from her during their time at the Red Keep and if she rekindled it by being here or if he held this ardent devotion for her all this time and she was too naive and scared to see it.

“When--? How did you know--?” Sansa began, quietly.

“That I loved you?” Sandor caught on quickly. He heaved a large sigh and avoided her eyes. “Probably from the first moment I met you. And even then, long before that, when I was a boy.”

Sansa looked to him to continue and he heaved another sigh before finally facing her and coming to sit with her on the bed. “Before I was burned, I wanted to be a knight, saving princesses and winning tourneys. I wanted to be in songs and suffocate in mountains of favors from ladies. I had a picture in my head of the maiden I wanted to fall in love with, marry, sire children with, grow old with. She seemed distant then and after I was burned, all but impossible to have. Years passed and I drowned myself in hatred and bitterness. It wasn’t until you came along that I had finally remembered that dream.”

Sandor looked to her with such depths of sadness that Sansa couldn’t help the tears she shed on his behalf. “You appeared in my life one day and all of those memories and hopes came rushing back to me. You are perfect. Beautiful, kind, gentle, clever, and strong, everything any man or lord or knight could ever want. You inspired me to be that hopeful little boy again. After your father was killed, I protected you as best I could, but I failed you and left you to the mercy of the lions. For that, I know I will never be worthy of your forgiveness. But when I found you half dead, I knew I could save you now and give you the loving, happy life you deserve.”

“Oh, Sandor, if I had only known...” Sansa sobbed, “I wouldn’t have fought you...I thought you were keeping me prisoner for someone else or that you had become consumed by your hatred and lust for violence...I would have been better to you.”

Sandor smiled softly to her as he wiped the heavy tears from her face. “Hush, Little Bird, you were right to suspect me. It means you’ve learned from your years with the lions and my old, hateful self. It’s all in the past. We can look forward now, my girl, to whatever fate we have now that we’re together.”

She managed to curl into his lap and he clutched her tightly to him, kissing her face and hair.


	6. Wolves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay. School has been a pain and I wrote that one shot as a distraction and not this story. I might have one 2 chapter story coming before I focus solely on this one again so be patient!

“Is it all right to come out now, Robb? Your wife is still asleep,” a voice pierced the darkness of the riverbank. One wouldn’t know Catelyn Stark now that her distinctive red hair had been cut close to her head and she was wearing men’s clothing. She had been ashamed of shedding her identity, but it was for the survival of her family and her houses.

 

“It’s all right, Mother. Let Rosalin sleep, she and Arya will need it,” Robb replied and Catelyn came the sit the long night shift with her son.

 

“I can’t believe they betrayed us like that... Our trusted servants... How are we going to recover?” Robb’s despair was palpable and all Catelyn could do was place an assuring hand on his shoulder.

 

“We have to be smart and brave about this. We will head North in this disguise and regroup. First, we have to get food and supplies. We’ll journey along the river until we reach Lord Harroway’s Town and then we’ll rest for a few days before we head North.” Catelyn was sure that they would find a friend there. With Greatjon and Smalljon Umber, Rosalin, Arya, Edmure, and Dacey and Maege Mormont, they would make it to Lord Harroway’s Town.

 

Robb nodded and rested his head on his mother’s shoulder. They had a long journey ahead of them and they needed to be ready for the sacrifices they had yet to make.

 

“From the village we passed through, I have heard Sansa has escaped the Red Keep and headed to the Riverlands. She was supposed to be there at Riverrun today or tomorrow,” Robb said quietly as his mother pet his hair.

 

Catelyn stopped and looked down at her son. He had the look he would get when he needed to tell a hard truth. Catelyn loved and hated that look since she had lost Ned. Ned would favor that look.

 

“Then we must pray to the gods that she has enough sense to stay away or go North.”

 

Robb nodded and continued to rest his head on his mother who was now wide awake with worry for her eldest daughter.

 

  _Please, dear gods, watch over my daughter. Guide her safely away and hide her with some allies. Please allow her to make it through this war and winter. If something happens to us. She is the last hope for the North._

 

Catelyn regarded her pack and heaved a shaky sigh. This was going to be a long night.

 


	7. Getting better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a special Halloween treat. A two chapter update!

Sandor had done what he promised and kept her secure in his room bringing her food, fresh clothes, and baths when she needed them and slowly she was gaining her strength back.

“Sandor, you haven’t told me where we are. Are we near Riverrun? Are you a lord now?”

“That’s a good, long story which I luckily have time for.” Sandor sat against the headboard and Sansa was leaned up against him playing with his large hands. He leaned down to take a fortifying whiff of her hair before he continued.

“After I ran from King’s Landing, I spent weeks traveling around trying to find a purpose to my life and to find a place to settle. I was furious that I was so drunk to have left you behind and thought many times about going back to get you from King’s Landing, but instead got captured by the Brotherhood without Banners. They made me fight a trial by combat with Beric Dondarrion to prove I wasn’t guilty of my brother Gregor’s crimes. I won, but Thoros of Myr resurrected Beric right before my eyes.”

Sansa gasped, but looked up for Sandor to continue his story. “They let me go, but not before I found your sister in their company and kidnapped her to take her to your family at the Twins for a ransom. She was a little shit the whole way there, but I delivered her safely to your mother and brother. I got her weight in silver and left without much fuss.”

“So my sister was with my mother and brother at Riverrun when--?” Sansa couldn’t finish.

“I think so,” Sandor said sadly and brought Sansa into his lap to be enfolded in his strong arms to silently mourn her family. After an honorable amount of silence, Sandor continued. “I made for a port town to catch a ship to go to the Free Cities to piss away the rest of my life in shame when I stopped at a tavern and was ambushed by Gregor’s men. They left me badly beat near the Trident, but the Elder Brother of the Quiet Isle found me and took me there to heal. I spent a year and a half in repentance and healing before he told me to move on. I was traveling around as a hermit of sorts when some villagers begged me to rid them of a corrupt lord here at Lord Harroway’s Town. He raped women and girls of the town and killed anyone he didn’t like. I drove the old lord out and the villagers made me the temporary ‘regent’ of sorts since the old lord’s sons were killed in the war.”

Sansa smiled, “You really are a hero, Sandor. You may not think so most of the time, but you saved the villagers and you saved me. That has to count for something.”

“Aye, lass, I guess it does. Does it earn me a kiss, my Lady?” Sandor waggled his eyebrows and Sansa obliged him with several soft kisses all over his face.

“One for each life you saved.”

“I think I saved a lot more lives than that...” Sandor complained but Sansa merely cuddled back against him to hear the rest of the story. “After I settled the town and was made a temporary lord. I was out trying to get a supply of food from a nearby farm when I saw what happened to you and found you in the stream. I killed the man that was after you and carried you back here in my cloak. You were asleep for three days. I thought you’d never wake up, but the maester made sure that you were safe.”

“Thank you, Sandor, for all you have done. I don’t know where my companions are and I wouldn’t know where to start looking for them. They were bringing me to Riverrun and to my family when those riders ambushed us.”

Sandor was all ears. “I feel you have a story for me, Little Bird. A nice long one, I think.”

Sansa told him about all that had happened after he left and he kept silent, but played with her hair and stroked her cheek until she was done. They were both caught up now.

“So once you were released from your betrothal, there were men sniffing at your skirts? If I had stayed, none of them would be left alive to wed you.” Sandor had had a dark look when she had talked about her suitors and her betrothal to Tyrion. 

“Well, I’m here with you now, and I don’t think anyone will find me here if you have anything to do with it. You’ve set your trap well, my hunter. You’ve caught yourself a red she-wolf.” Sandor’s eyes drifted to her lips then and licked his hungrily.

“Aye, little red wolf, I’ve caught you with some good dumb luck. You’ll not be getting away from me, I’ll make sure of that.” Sandor pulled her up to meet his lips. “Now come, little red wolf, let me have a taste of you.”

After a nice long kiss, Sandor buried his face in her neck and tickled her with large wet puffs of warm air which made her squeal with delight.

**Author's Note:**

> So, these first couple chapters are gonna be on here for a while before another update. BE PREPARED FOR LONG WAITS BETWEEN CHAPTERS! All mistakes are mine and characters belong to George R.R. Martin.


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